Superman
Superman (real name Kal-El) is a character in DC Comics ; portrayed as one of the last survivors of the planet Krypton (if not the last survivor depending on the story). He was only a baby when he was sent off-world in a rocket by his parents Jor-El and Lara, who did this in order to save him as Krypton was approaching its imminent destruction. Kal-El's rocket eventually reached Earth and crash landed in Smallville, Kansas in the USA before he was found by an elderly farming couple - Jonathan and Martha Kent. The pair chose to adopt the otherworldly child and raised him as their own; naming him Clark Kent. As he grew up, Clark began to demonstrate otherworldly powers - including super strength, super speed, being able to jump great distances in a single bound and been incredibly durable among other abilities. As a result of this, his adoptive parents warned him to hide his powers as people would fear him - but also told him that when the day came when he would need to use them, he must use them to help humanity. Clark took this to heart and would later realize his goal; becoming the hero Superman in order to fight crime and protect Earth. In the comic Superman: War of the Worlds - which takes place on a parallel version of Earth known as Earth-1938 and not in the main DC Universe(s) - the story focuses on an invasion by the Martians in 1938, with Clark Kent taking on his 'Superman' persona for the first time to battle them in order to save humanity. Character Bio Following the passing of his adoptive parents, Clark became more determined in his resolve to use the powers he had for the benefit of mankind. In 1938, after several failed attempts at finding a job as a journalist, he eventually reaches the Daily Star in Metropolis and - despite his lack of experience - is offered a shot by Perry White alongside Lois Lane as half the staff are off work with the flu. The pair are quickly sent by Perry to cover a story (with Clark acting as Lois' photographer) regarding a meteor that fell on Woking outside Metropolis. Upon reaching the crater and the cylinder within two hours later, Lois and Clark arrive to a crowd of people - including astronomer Professor Ogilvy and his associate Lex Luthor - with all of them witnessing the unscrewing of the cylinder and the emergence of two Martians. While one of the Martians slips and falls into the crater (with Clark having to pull Lois back when it nearly grabs her ankle), the second retreats into the cylinder before revealing the Heat Ray - blasting Professor Ogilvy and many in the crowd with it. At one point Lois is nearly struck by the Heat Ray but is shielded from it by Clark; the blast burning off his civilian disguise and revealing his superhero outfit underneath. Soon after the Army arrived to deal with the Martians. However, the cylinder burst open and revealed five fighting machines, with Superman getting hit by the Heat Ray at close range and noting that it is the first time he has actually felt pain. Recovering as the Army's weapons prove ineffective against the Tripods, he manages to save some troops from getting hit and convinces the Captain to withdraw his men; stating that he will delay the Tripods while he can. Knocking over a Tripod by hitting it with one of the Army's cannons, he proceeds to rip open the Tripod to get at it's occupant; briefly grappling with the Martian inside before ripping it out of the Tripod and throwing it a long distance away - musing before his throw that he's only sorry that he doesn't have the strength to toss the creature all the way back to Mars. Following the remaining four as they head for Metropolis, with the Army and Air Force powerless to stop them, Superman arrives in time to save a pilot from falling to his death - although the pilot flees in fear due to Superman not being human. Regardless, Superman continues to fight the remaining tripods - temporarily knocking one down - although he is horrified to see another launch a Black Smoke canister at the soldiers, which begins to choke them. Landing in the Black Smoke, Superman realizes he is powerless to help them and although his lungs allow him not to inhale for longer than a human, he eventually has to leap out of the smoke as it weakens him. However, he jumps straight into the path of two Tripods; both of which blast him with their Heat Rays and injure him enough to render him comatose before capturing him. Two weeks later, Superman regains consciousness while imprisoned to learn from Lex Luthor (who has sided with the Martians and lost his hair after it was set on fire) that the Martians have taken over the planet and killed most of the world's leaders including the Royal Family, President Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler before herding people into concentration camps to be used as slave labor and later for food, with the camps been manned by Martians in Handling Machines. However, Superman learns from Lex that the Martians are slowly succumbing to illness from a lack of resistance to Earth's bacteria, along that the Martians are interested in him as not only does his skin resist the Martian's penetration devices but the Martians who remain around him do not get ill. Bringing in Lois - who was captured by the Martians at the same time as Lex and has been kept alive at his request - Lex states that, like the Martians, Superman is an alien; a statement Clark agrees with as he recalls his adoptive parents telling him that they found him in a rocket. Furthermore, when Lex successfully manages to draw blood from Superman (drawing it from where he is still healing following his battles with the Tripods) and analyzes it, he reveals that Superman's Kryptonian biology is cancelling out the effects of Earth's bacteria - which is why the Martians who are working around him aren't getting sick. Lois and Lex soon end up helping to free Superman when the Martians - now having the information they need - try to kill Lex. Quickly dealing with several of the Martians in their Handling Machines, Superman manages to free the humans in the concentration camp by ripping open the fence. As the majority of the humans flee, Superman notices how Lois recoils from him - with both of them accepting that both after the confirmation of Superman been an alien and what the Martians have done around the world that she is unwilling to let him touch her despite his actions. Their conversation is interrupted, however, when three of the sickly Martians resume control of their Tripods. Superman is able to bring one down by smashing a car into one of its legs and bringing down another by catching a Black Smoke canister it launched and throwing it back at the Tripod. Upon trying to take down the third Tripod however, the Tripod detaches its legs - revealing itself to be a flying machine - before blasting Superman repeatedly with its heat ray. Upon falling under the Tripod, Superman exposes a weakness as anything flying between it and the ground interferes with the Flying Machine's anti-gravity system. Although he continues to be shot at, Superman manages to exploit this weakness by throwing the wreckage of another Tripod underneath - the Tripod's mass causing the Flying Machine to crash land. As he starts to hammer on the Flying Machine's shell, however, Superman stops himself as he realizes that he's giving into his anger and bloodlust - moments before he collapses to the ground as his injuries prove fatal. As Lois and Lex talk to him, Superman expresses during his dying breaths that while he had to fight the Martians to save Earth, he sympathized with them as - like him - they came from a dying world and that if they hadn't come, people may have been running from him. Following his death, Lex Luthor used what Superman learned about the Flying machines to build equipment that counteracted their anti-gravity systems; helping to bring them down faster. As the world's nations rebuilt and re-organized their governments for better or worse, a memorial statue of Superman is built outside of the League of Nations complex in Metropolis; engraved with the words "Clark Kent (d. 1938) - He was born on one world - grew to manhood on another - and saved his adopted planet from the wrath of a third, during the WAR OF THE WORLDS". Powers This version of Superman is based on his Golden Age version, who has the following powers: *Superhuman Strength *Superhuman Speed *Flight *Superhuman Durability/Invulnerability Unlike his contemporary versions, this version of Superman does not possess many of his other powers such as his Heat Vision, Freezing Breath, etc. Trivia This version of Superman is referred to constantly as Clark Kent throughout the comic, with the only one who refers to him as "Superman" been Lex Luthor - who calls him the "Nietzschean Superman". This references both Frederick Nietzsche and the concept of the Übermensch (German for "Superman", "Superhuman", etc) that featured in Frederick's philosophies. Furthermore, when a human asks Clark about the "S" emblem on his chest, Clark admits that he doesn't know; stating that the symbol was on a blanket that he was wrapped in while he was on the rocket that brought him to Earth. Category:Characters Category:Male character Category:Deceased Category:Aliens Category:Superman Category:Crossover Characters